sneak peek: wayne and angie wu

Wayne and Angie Wu recently moved out of their 1860s Queen Anne historic brownstone in the heart of Baltimore’s cultural district, but we wanted to give them a chance to show off this great space, which is a mix of Angie’s boho-vintage chic and Wayne’s mid-century modern, skateboard and street culture style. They’ve since made their way to New York City to help their church open a new location, and at the same time, Wayne closed up his graphic design studio to join some good friends at a new company called Visual Supply Co. As the lone East-Coaster of the group, Wayne works as Chief Experience Officer, creating visual tools such as VSCO Cam, VSCO Film and VSCO Sites. We’re looking forward to checking out their small East Village digs once they’re all settled! Thanks, Wayne, Angie and Greg! — Anne

Image above: The front parlor was a flexible space with beautiful, enormous windows that would let in so much light in the mornings. Sometimes we used it as a gallery, and other times as a dining room. The fiberglass chairs were found at a local antique store, and the folding chairs are by Anthropologie. The lamp was a knockoff Arco lamp that actually used a real piece of Carrera marble and weighed a ton to move. The art on the mantel is by Hanna Kim.

See more of Wayne and Angie’s Baltimore home after the jump . . .

Image above: The rear parlor of the first floor served as our living room. The light fixture by Moooi cast a wonderful shadow in the evening, and the pink paisley chair by Anthropologie made a great place to sink into on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Leaning against the fireplace is one of Wayne’s favorite skateboard decks, a Benny Gold cruiser, and the art on the mantel is by Eboy. In the background is our antique teak Dutch credenza purchased from a store in Ellicott City, Maryland, as well as a pair of Le Corbusier pony chairs.

Image above: The central parlor was a connecting space, a fun place to hang out when friends came over. We used skateboard decks as bookshelves and found steel brackets from Ikea that we mounted into the wall. The mirror was originally an awful pewter color that we painted black. The light fixtures were paper shades made by Tord Boontje, and we had ruffled sleeves made to hide the cords.

Image above: Our kitchen was in the basement of the house and opened out to a garden in the back. We often cooked for large groups, so we wanted it to be a place where many people could cook together and try new recipes. Therefore, we decided it was easier to leave all our spices, oils and other everyday cooking items out in the open.

Image above: The highlight of the kitchen was this original cast-iron stove from the mid-19th century. You would stick coal or wood into the central chamber, and it would heat the oven and stove top. We never tried it, but we think it still works.

Image above: Wayne operated his design studio out of the house, so it needed to be a place where he could work, draw, relax, play and get inspiration. We found that the ubiquitous Ikea bookshelves fit perfectly on each side of the fireplace and also served as a nice shelf for Wayne’s toy collection.

Image above: Because the house was so old, there really wasn’t a “master” bedroom. Every room was the same square shape, but each room also had its own fireplace. Many of them would have missing tiles that you could only find in antique stores, one at a time. The desk in the background was a Craigslist find. The painting on the mantel is by Karen Shea. Other accessories included Angie’s trusty Geneva alarm clock.

Image above: In the spring and summer time, the front of the house would be covered in bright green ivy. We were told it was bad for the brick, but we kept it anyways because it looked cool.

What a fabulous job they did of this house! Also, this is why I love Baltimore. For all it’s faults, the housing stock here is un-matchable for value. They have done an outstanding job of decorating this gorgeous building…but also know that living in a huge, glorious brownstones is perfectly possible here. There are many of them in the city just waiting for someone to love them this much….

It is amazing that they gave away 95% of all their stuff and it looked like really good stuff. Such generous souls and such divine elegance. Wow Most Impressive. Just loved looking at the pristine beauty of it all.

I had the honor to be in this wonderful space numerous times as they always invited had the house opened for events and gatherings – I live two blocks away. They are truly wonderful people and I miss this place so much. It’s a good thing that I am in NY for the summer and in fact just hung out with them this past weekend! Visit my blog – click the link to my name – for more interesting stories and photos~

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